Crews were called to the Rosedale Roofing shortly after 1:30 p.m. for reports of a fire. Heavy smoke could be seen for miles around.

"Oh, it was huge. It looked like a storm cloud was rolling in -- just smoke everywhere," said witness Josh Lopez.

The fire was still burning inside the warehouse and smoke could be seen through the 6 p.m. hour. Fire officials said some crew members were still working at 11 p.m. to put out hot spots that were hard to get to.

The business had offices in the front and the warehouse in the back, the owner told 11 News. The warehouse was full of rubber, tar and other flammable roof-making materials that made it difficult for firefighters.

"It's difficult to get equipment in close enough to be effective but also be in a safe enough zone that if there were a collapse, the equipment and personnel wouldn't be injured. Because of that, we have had to bring in heavy equipment to take down some of the walls around the warehouse area," said Capt. Bruce Schultz.

Fire officials said one firefighter was taken to a hospital as a precaution because he was feeling sick. Otherwise, everyone who was inside the building was able to escape unharmed. No injuries were reported.

Emergency crews shut down a four-block radius around the fire, forcing neighbors to park their cars and walk home.

"They've blocked off traffic on King all the way up to, I guess, White Marsh. I guess there's no way to get in or out," said neighbor Michael Skelly.

Owner Joe Correlli Sr. founded the business in 1960 and passed it down to his children.

"We're OK. We're all calm and happy that no one got hurt. We thank the good lord for it," Correlli said.

His son said the shop superintendent, Chris King, saved the employees by alerting everyone to the fire.

"Chris King, when he saw the smoke, the first thing he did was run into the office and said, 'Everybody out.' And by the time he turned around and looked back in the building, it was full of smoke, so nobody went back in the building and here we are now. Thank God everybody's safe," said Tony Correlli, co-owner of Rosedale Roofing.

About 100 firefighters and 30 pieces of equipment were called to the fire.

The Police Department's arson unit will handle the investigation. A cause of the fire has not yet been determined.